Farmland review head named Agricultural Land Commission chair

After chairing the B.C. NDP government’s Agricultural Land Reserve review since January, Jennifer Dyson has been named to take over as chair of the Agricultural Land Commission.

Dyson replaces former Saanich mayor Frank Leonard, who completed his term Monday. Dyson served as an ALC commissioner from 2008 to 2017, ruling on applications to change farm status or allow secondary uses in the areas of the province designated as farmland.

“Jennifer Dyson’s 10 years of experience as an ALC commissioner, coupled with her work as a farmer, will be invaluable in her role as chair of the ALC,” said Agriculture Minister Lana Popham.

Dyson has a family-run water buffalo dairy and direct farm market business in the Alberni Valley. During her time as commissioner, she chaired the Vancouver Island panel of the ALC.

When the review was announced, Popham told Black Press she intends to eliminate the two-zone system introduced by the previous government, which relaxes secondary uses in regions outside the prime farmland areas of the Lower Mainland, the Okanagan and southern Vancouver Island.